It is known to arrange medical implants, in particular, active medical implants tier a human or animal organism in a housing which then is implanted into the human or animal body. The implant housings, thereby, are mostly made from metal shells. Further, it is known to configure the implants such that a communication between the implant and an external transceiver unit is enabled. The communication, hereby, is carried out via radio or inductance.
During communication via inductance, however, the transmission bandwidth is restricted by the carrier frequency. In case the carrier frequency is selected to be high for a high bandwidth, i.e., high data traffic, then it will be attenuated by the materials of the housing and/or by the biological tissue. The thus resulting loss has to be compensated for in that the transmission power is increased accordingly, the latter being detrimental in case the implant is powered by a battery. An increased transmission power may also be detrimental to the biological tissue surrounding the implant if, for example, due to the increased transmission power, the tissue immediately surrounding the implant is heated directly or indirectly by the inherent electrical losses of the electronic circuits.
Further, with respect to the implant housings known from prior art it is disadvantageous that moisture, for example, body fluid enters into the housing which may impair the implant electronics within the housing. It is known to design implants or implant housings such that a leak through which moisture may enter has to be correspondingly small. The expected durability of the implant is estimated during production by measuring the leak. This, however, is disadvantageous in case the implant has to be designed such that it does not have to be replaced during the lifetime of the patient, and has to operate reliably, if needed, over many decades. However, in case moisture enters into the implant housing, functional disorders or even failure of the implant may occur, thus, being detrimental to the patient's health.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide solutions for a medical implant which at least partially overcomes the disadvantages known from prior art, and which enables a high bandwidth of communication between the implant and an external transceiver unit with a high durability of the implant at the same time.